The present invention relates to motorized key cutting machines and, more particularly, to fully automated, motorized key duplicating machines.
Fully automated key duplicating machines are designed to be used by an operator who does not possess a high level of skill or who has undergone a great deal of training in order to produce a high quality duplicate key. Such automated key duplicating machines typically include a clamping mechanism which holds the key blank to be cut and the customer key to be duplicated in a parallel relationship to each other, and an automated, motorized cutting assembly. Such a cutting assembly typically includes a cutter motor and a follower, the latter of which traces the notch pattern on the customer key blade, while the cutter wheel driven by the cutter motor cuts a duplicate notch pattern on the blade of the key blank.
The cutter motor and follower are typically mounted on a carriage which is sidewardly displaceable relative to the key clamp component, and that carriage is displaced by means such as a screw drive to move the cutter wheel and follower along a first or cutting pass, then a second or return pass. Typically, such screw drives are mounted on a base plate which is integral with the housing which covers the device. The base plate typically is positioned above a chip collection drawer, which requires that the base plate include cut outs to allow chips formed during the cutting operation to fall to the chip drawer to be collected for subsequent removal. A disadvantage of such systems is that the motor which powers the screw drive, as well as other support structures, are positioned below the cutter wheel and consequently collect chips formed during the cutting operation. Accordingly, there is a need to provide an automated key duplicating machine in which a minimal number of components are located below the cutter wheel so that the surfaces and components positioned to collect chips are minimized, thereby allowing a maximum amount of the chips generated during cutting to fall unimpeded to the chip collection drawer.